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Josh Reviews Dark Phoenix
James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Movie Reviews, X-Men
I still remember how thrilled and excited I was when I saw the final shot of Bryan Singer's X2 back in 2003. Jean Grey had sacrificed herself to save the X-Men in the battle at Alkali Lake, and in that final, blink-and-you-missed-it shot, we saw a hint of flame rising from underneath the waters. That shot was an announcement to all the comic book fans out there that the X-Men movie franchise was about to take on perhaps the greatest of all the X-Men storylines from the comic books: The Dark Phoenix Saga by Chris Claremont and John Byrne. That storyline played out over the course of many months in the monthly X-Men comic-books back in 1980. I walked out of the theatre after seeing X2 out of my mind with excitement for seeing this extraordinary story play out on screen. And then, well… we all know what happened. Bryan Singer decided to make Superman Returns and Fox hired Brett Ratner to make the terrible third X-Men movie, X-Men: The Last Stand, that took the epic Dark Phoenix Saga and turned it into a subplot in a film telling a story about a potential "cure" for mutants (an idea taken from Joss Whedon's Astonishing X-Men run from 2004). I thought that film's bungling of The Dark Phoenix Saga ruined any chance we had of seeing that story successfully told in a movie. So I was surprised and pleased when the news was announced, two years ago, that Simon Kinberg (who has been a writer and producer involved with the X-Men film franchise for years) would be giving the story another go, featuring the First Class-era cast of younger X-Men characters. After all this time, would we finally be getting the film adaptation that The Dark Phoenix Saga deserved…?
Well, sigh. No.
Dark Phoenix isn't nearly as bad as I'd feared from the lackluster trailers and repeated delays to the film's release. It actually has a lot going for it. I really enjoy this cast, and in particular it's a delight to see James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender back for one more go-round as Professor X and Magneto. The film wisely sets Sophie Turner's Jean Grey as its main focus, and I appreciated Simon Kinberg's oft-stated goal to focus on intimate character scenes over CGI spectacle. There are a number of dramatic moments between characters that are very effective, and the film does have a decent amount of exciting action.
Shockingly, the film winds up making a number of the same mistakes that 2006's X-Men: The Last Stand did.
Most importantly, I was quite surprised to discover that Dark Phoenix is really barely more faithful to the original … [continued]
News Around the Net!
James Bond, Marvel, Mystery Science Theater 3000, News Around the Net, The Beatles, The Good Place, X-Men
So, here's our first real look at the new X-Men film, Dark Phoenix:
I really want this to be great, but I'm not yet feeling this one. First of all, the continuity of these X-Men movies makes my head spin. One of the things I loved about Days of Future Past was the way it adjusted the continuity of the previous films in order to undo some of the damage of The Last Stand and give these characters a happy ending. Most relevant to this new Dark Phoenix movie was that, in the last moments of Days of Future Past, we saw that Jean Grey was still alive. So I'm a bit flummoxed that they've continued making movies (X-Men: Apocalypse and now this one) set BEFORE the events of that Days of Future Past epilogue. If Jean is alive in that epilogue, that sort of removes the suspense from this movie, no? This is a actually a rare case where I wish they'd just do a reboot and start fresh.
Putting that aside and just considering this trailer, my next biggest concern is the degree to which what we see in the trailer seems totally different from the classic Dark Phoenix story from the comics (by Chris Claremont and John Byrne). I'm not really seeing ANYTHING from the classic comic story here yet. The Last Stand bungled the Dark Phoenix story, and so I am excited at the potential for a do-over. But my hope for a do-over would be for the movie to hew much closer to the original comic story, which so far doesn't seem to be what they're doing here. That really disappoints me.
What's good? I do really like this cast, and I am happy to see James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, and Jennifer Lawrence back in these roles (after they all seemed like they were done after X-Men: Apocalypse). And I'm happy that the new crew introduced in Apocalypse also seem to all be back as well: Sophie Turner as Jean Grey, Tye Sheriden as Cyclops, Alexandra Shipp as Storm, and Kodi Smit-McPhee as Nightcrawler. I'm particularly jazzed to see Sophie Turner (who I thought was a little underused in Apocalypse) given a chance to shine. I love the new-look costumes (which seem to be heavily influenced by Frank Quitely's designs for Grant Morrison's run on New X-Men back in 2001). I'd love for Dark Phoenix (why have they dropped X-Men from the title?) to be a big, awesome X-Men epic. Here's hoping…
Here's a nice juicy look at Daredevil season three:
After the disappointment of The Defenders, I have fallen behind on the Marvel Netflix shows. I skipped The Punisher, as I'm just … [continued]
Josh Reviews X-Men: Apocalypse
Hugh Jackman, James McAvoy, Marvel, Movie Reviews, Olivia Munn, Oscar Isaac, X-Men
The X-Men film franchise began with such promise but it's been a big mess for quite a while now. Bryan Singer's 2000 X-Men film launched the golden age of super-hero films that we're still living in. No one had ever before brought a super-hero team to life on screen. Mr. Singer was able to distill the head-spinningly complicated X-Men mythology into a movie with adult, complex themes that still contained a boat-load of super-hero fun. The near-perfect cast brought the X-Men characters, and their universe, to glorious life. That film was quickly followed up by the 2003 sequel, X2. That film hasn't aged so well, but at the time many/most saw it as a brilliant expansion of the world of the first film. With its fan-pleasing ending (depicting the death of Jean Grey and final-shot tease of her return/resurrection of the Phoenix), I thought we were on the verge of an epic, multi-film saga that would continue for years. Sadly, that never was. Bryan Singer left to do Superman Returns and Fox, unwilling to wait, hired Brett Ratner to helm the disappointing X-Men: The Last Stand. Rather than continuing with an ongoing series of X-Men films, Fox seemed unwilling or unable to see past that initial trilogy, and it quickly became clear that the studio had no idea what to do with the property. There was talk for a while of a series of individual X-Men: Origins spin-off films, though the only one that actually got made was the dreadful X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Years past, and eventually the planned X-Men Origins: Magneto film morphed into the prequel film X-Men: First Class. I hate prequels and when announced this seemed to me like a bizarre step backwards for the franchise, but I was surprised by how great the film, directed by Matthew Vaughn, wound up being. I would have been happy to follow this fun new cast through a new trilogy helmed by Mr. Vaughn, but once again the series changed tracks as Mr. Vaughn stepped away and Bryan Singer returned to direct X-Men: Days of Future Past. While I would have loved to have seen a more-faithful adaptation of Chris Claremont and John Byrne's classic story — one of the defining X-Men stories — I loved the way that film was structured to combine Bryan Singer's original X-Men cast with Matthew Vaughn's First Class cast. Days of Future Past was very solid, but what made me love the film was the final five minutes, in which we see that the events of the film have re-set the timeline of the X-Men films, giving a sweet happy ending to the cast and characters who had begun in 2000's … [continued]
Josh Enjoys the Rogue Cut of X-Men: Days of Future Past
Bryan Singer, Hugh Jackman, Ian McKellan, Marvel, Movie Reviews, X-Men
I quite enjoyed the theatrical version of X-Men: Days of Future Past. (Click here for my original review.) Let me be clear, I lament how much of the classic comic-book story, by Chris Claremont & John Byrne, was jettisoned for the film. I would so dearly love to some day see a more direct adaptation of that classic X-Men story for the big screen. But I loved the idea of using the hook of that story-line as a way to merge the original cast of Bryan Singer's X-Men films from a decade and a half ago with the new, younger First Class versions. That's a genius idea. I thought the film worked well on its own — not spectacular, but very solid — as a super-hero adventure flick, and I absolutely adored the final few minutes which served as a tremendous course-correction on the mis-steps the franchise took with Brett Ratner's misguided and flawed X-Men: The Last Stand.
When the film was released, there was a lot written on-line about how Anna Paquin's Rogue had been cut from the film. Apparently, to keep the film's run-time at a manageable level, an entire subplot featuring her character was cut from the film, and in the theatrical cut Ms. Paquin only appeared as Rogue for a brief instant in the final moments of the film. That brief appearance was satisfactory for me, but of course I was curious to see what had been cut out.
I am delighted to report that the extended "Rogue Cut" of Days of Future Past that has recently been released to blu-ray is a wonderful enhancement of the film. The Rogue subplot has been restored to the film, but I was surprised by how many other great little bits and moments had also been edited into the film. Pretty much all of these moments are great, and as such I feel pretty confident that this will be my preferred version of the film to watch from now on.
Now, don't get me wrong, this "Rogue Cut" is not a radical alteration to the theatrical version. The changes are far more subtle than some of the more famous directors cuts that are out there, such as the extended editions of the Lord of the Rings films, or, say, the directors cuts of James Cameron's Aliens or The Abyss. (By the way, if you've never seen those directors cuts, track them down immediately!!) The most dramatic change to the film is, no surprise, the sequences involving Rogue, which are nicely well-woven into the extended version. The main element of this restored subplot is the mid-movie mission that the aged Magneto (Ian McKellan) leads to rescue Rogue … [continued]
"What's the Last Thing You Remember?" Josh Reviews X-Men: Days of Future Past
Hugh Jackman, Ian McKellan, James McAvoy, Marvel, Michael Fassbender, Movie Reviews, X-Men
Bryan Singer's first X-Men film, released in 2000, was a revelation, proof to me that the complex, wonderful world of comic book super-heroes could indeed be brought to life on-screen in a fun, serious way. There had been some great comic book movies before X-Men, of course. Richard Donner's Superman (1978) was and still remains a magnificent interpretation of the character, and I've always loved the flawed but still great Superman II (1980). Tim Burton's Batman (1989) also was a fun film that had a huge cultural impact. But while those films were great, even as a kid they seemed to me like totally different versions of the characters I knew and loved. These were the "movie" versions of those characters. They were fun, but not at all like the "real" characters. I also recognized early-on that, while all of those films had moments of grandeur and lots of visual-effects magic, they were severely constrained by the limits of physical reality. The sprawling stories and epic nature of my favorite comic book series were far beyond the reach of any movie adaption.
Then came Bryan Singer's X-Men, and suddenly the impossible seemed possible. Mr. Singer and his team (including screenwriter David Hayter and many other uncredited writers who were involved with the finished screenplay) took the X-Men, possibly the most sprawling and epic of all the different comic-book series and universes, and brought them to life in a way that on the one hand preserved their complexity (the film is jam-packed with different characters, each with their own back-story and power-set and motivation) while also boiling down the decades of comic-book story-lines into simplified versions that worked on screen. 2000's X-Men took the property seriously (more seriously than some of the various bad X-Men spin-off comic-books over the years had done), anchoring the story in Magneto's past as a survivor of the Holocaust. (The decision to open the film with a prologue set in Auschwitz is an incredibly gutsy move, and is I think a critical key to the film's success, because that scene gives a weight to Magneto's point of view.)
Almost a decade-and-a-half later, it's easy to look back at X-Men and see everything that the film got wrong. We've been blessed with some incredibly faithful comic book adaptations lately. Looking at how well the Marvel Studios films have brought their characters to life, we can look back at X-Men and bemoan the dull, Matrix-inspired leather look to all the characters. While the film nailed Wolverine, Professor X, and Magneto, we can complain about the characterizations that missed the mark (Storm, Cyclops). We can comment how small-scale X-Men is, how it lacks in any real crazy … [continued]
Andy & Lana Wachowski, Bryan Singer, Christopher Nolan, DC Comics, Marvel, News Around the Net, Paul Rudd, Star Trek, X-Men
In one of my earliest posts on the site, I wrote my own follow-up to the famous Comics Journal article "Martin Wagner Owes Me Fifty Bucks," in which I listed several comic book series that remained tragically never-completed by their authors. At the top of the list was David Lapham's magnificent series Stray Bullets. This independently published, black-and-white comic book blew me away as a teenager. I still think it stands as a magnificent achievement, which makes the fact that the series stopped publication in the middle of a story tragically painful. Mr. Lapham is still working in the comic book industry, and for years and years I have been hoping that he would some-day return to this series and complete his story. It looks like that day has finally arrived, as Image Comics has listed Stray Bullets on their publication schedule for March, 2014. I hope this is real!!!
Devin Faraci at badassdigest.com has listed his Ten Most Disappointing Films of 2013, and at the top of his list is Star Trek Into Darkness. What Mr. Faraci wrote about the film so perfectly sums up my feelings that I don't think I ever need to write another word about that terribly disappointing film. Here is Mr. Faraci:
This isn't technically a ranked list, but I saved this for last on purpose. There were many months leading up to Star Trek Into Darkness that allowed me to roll with the movie's punch, but even still this broiling heap of nonsense left me deeply despondant. JJ Abrams had totally proven me wrong with Star Trek 2009, a movie that while not great was filled with heart and adventure and managed to work despite extraordinary script flaws. Star Trek Into Darkness brought back both the cast who made the first film live and the script flaws that almost sank it, except this time the script flaws were not going to get upstaged. Into Darkness is dumb, it's complicated for no reason, it features reveals that are meaningless to the plot and it pisses away Star Trek's most name-brand villain in a plotline that disrespects hardcore fans while being meaningless to the coveted new audience. Star Trek Into Darkness is a movie so bad that it fails on almost every conceivable level, including mewling fan service. This isn't the worst film of the year… but it's without a doubt the film that squanders the most talent, money and good will.
Amen. (If you're interested, here's my review of Star Trek Into Darkness.)
Love this trailer for Christopher Nolan's new film, Interstellar. I don't have a clue what the film is about, and that's just the way I want … [continued]
Brian Michael Bendis, Indiana Jones, Isaac Asimov, James Bond, John Byrne, Marvel, News Around the Net, Quantum Leap, Seinfeld, Star Trek, The Simpsons, X-Men
This is fantastic: The Seinfeld reunion episode from Curb Your Enthusiasm season #7, edited together. Enjoy!
This is a great site that lists the various actors and actresses who played multiple characters in different Bond films. Great fun for the Bond fans out there!
Speaking of Bond, there was BIG NEWS last month that the James Bond movie producers and MGM have finally ended the nearly fifty-year-long legal battle with Kevin McClory, the co-writer of Thunderball. I've known about this rights conflict before, of course (it's what led to another studio being able to make the competing Bond film, Never Say Never Again, that was released the same year as Octopussy), but what I didn't realize was that this rights situation was what was preventing MGMN's bond films from using Bloefeld or SPECTRE. My reviews of the Daniel Craig Bond films have been lamenting the absence of those two classic villains, and I am overjoyed at the idea that now the way is open for Bloefeld to be revealed as the head of Quantum, and/or for Quantum to be revealed as a branch of SPECTRE. I desperately hope the next Bond film walks through this now-open door!!
Hey, comic book fans: I've recently discovered two comic-book-related tumblrs that I am now obsessed with. First is John Byrne Draws, which is chock-full of absolutely gorgeous scans of Mr. Byrne's original art from the decades that he has been working in the industry. There was a long, long time during which John Byrne was my very favorite comic book artist (and writer!), so this was a real treat. Then there is comic book writer Brian Michael Bendis' tumblr, which is a showcase for two things: 1) amazing, extraordinary scans of classic comic book art from across the decades — work by many different artists from many different eras, being linked only by being some of the finest comic book art ever drawn, and 2) Bendis' incredibly open, honest, funny and insightful Q & As with his fans. Both aspects of the tumblr are equally valuable — together, they're an irresistible time-suck for me.
This is a fun article on 10 parts of the Indiana Jones films that bother the writer. I hugely agree with numbers 4 and 5. (Don't worry, the article only focuses on the original Indy trilogy, rightly ignoring The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.)
This Star Trek reference-laden conversation between a Netflix employee and a customer is apparently real, and it is amazing.
This is a great article on two of my very favorite novels: Isaac Asimov's The Caves of Steel and The Naked Sun. Oh man do I love those two … [continued]
Battlestar Galactica, Chris Claremont, DC Comics, Jim Henson, Kevin Smith, Lost, Mad Men, Marvel, News Around the Net, Star Trek, Superman, The Simpsons, The West Wing, X-Men
This is fantastic: Tom Hiddleston (who played Loki in both Thor movies and The Avengers) doing a phneomenal impression of Owen Wilson, had Owen been cast as Loki. Check this out.
West Wing fans! Did you see this clip of Allison Janney performing The Jackal on The Arsenio Hall Show? This is an obscure reference, but one that any die-hard West Wing fan will appreciate:
This blog from Kevin Smith gives an intriguing update on his fast-developed, absolutely bonkers weird-sounding new movie, Tusk. Click here for even more info. Despite being an enormous fan of Kevin Smith, I still haven't seen Red State. I want to see it, for sure, since I can't imagine not having seen one of Mr. Smith's films, but it just doesn't interest me that much. So far, I am bummed to say that Tusk is trending the same way, but it's such a loony concept that I am intrigued. It'll be interesting to see how this develops.
This is a great short little retrospective of Jim Henson's life and work. I very much want to read Brian Jay Jones' biography of Jim Henson, it sounds like a really fascinating book.
OK, this is a very geeky link, but I loved this. An enterprising photoshopper has created images showing how awesome the Star Trek: The Next Generation cast would have looked in Original Series uniforms. So great.
There are a lot of stories cropping up about behind-the-scenes issues on the pre-production of Star Wars: Episode VII. Seems Disney is pushing for that 2015 release date, come hell or high water. More info here. I hope it's all just talk. I don't have much hope that I will ever again in my lifetime see a great Star Wars film, but that little ember of hope does still exist, deep inside me. Like Fox Mulder, I want to believe!
Chris Claremont is, I would argue, single-handedly responsible for the incredible popularity of the X-Men today. Mr. Claremont wrote The Uncanny X-Men comic book, and a truck-load of spinoffs and mini-series and annuals and other special events, for a jaw-dropping seventeen years, from the '70s into the '90s. (In one of the great injustices of the medium's history, he was sort of pushed off of the series when his work began to be overshadowed by the popularity of the superstar artists working at Marvel in those days.) A new documentary about his career — focusing on that incredible seventeen year run on the X-Men — has just been released, and I am dying to see it. This is a fantastic article about a recent screening of the film, followed by a Q & A … [continued]
Batman, Batman: The Animated Series, DC Animation, Freaks and Geeks, Marvel, News Around the Net, Paul Feig, Seinfeld, Star Wars, The Transformers, Voltron, X-Men
Let's begin the day with this phenomenal article from badassdigest.com about how Optimus Prime's death defined a generation of kids. Do you want to understand the depths of my geeky heart? Then read that article. My parents wouldn't let me see Transformers: The Movie in theatres, but I was allowed to rent it on video. I didn't cry, but I was shocked by the brutal deaths of all my beloved characters in the film's opening minutes. When Optimus Prime bought the farm I was changed forever. I had loved the Transformers before, but one viewing of Transformers: The Movie sealed that flick's place in my heart forever. "Megatron… must be stopped. No matter the cost."
Boy, those crazy guys and gals at badassdigest.com have a direct line into my psyche these days, because while the experience of seeing Transformers: The Movie was seminal, so too was my discovery of Voltron. This magnificent article examines the mysterious origins of Voltron, a show that combined and repurposed several different Japanese cartoons. Oh my lord I loved Voltron. The continuity of that show — the way story-lines flowed from one episode to the next — was a staggering discovery to me as a kid, and I fell in love hard. To this day, I have a love for long-running continuing stories in any media (Movies, TV, books, comic books, etc.), and I think that began as a kid when I discovered Voltron and Robotech…
I just discovered Jerry Seinfeld's web-series Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, and it is magnificent. I love stand-up comedy and I loved Seinfeld, so no surprise I think this series of shorts of Jerry hanging out with his very funny pals is phenomenal. With this project, Seinfeld has inched even closer to truly having made a show about nothing. Genius. I have already watched them all. If you haven't seen this, click on the above link immediately.
Want to watch Ewan McGregor tell a hilarious story about filming the Star Wars prequels? Jump to 7:50 below:
So far I am very, very excited for next year's X-Men: Days of Future Past. My only cause for worry? The film's very unimpressive redesign of the Sentinels. I wish they had stuck a lot closer to the classic, iconic original design by John Byrne. The Sentinels aren't just any robots, they have a very specific look, and this isn't it.
As for this summer's X-Men movie, I have already written my review of the good-but-not-great new Wolverine solo film, The Wolverine. Click here for a fascinating interview with Chris Claremont, who shares his thoughts on the film. Chris Claremont didn't create the X-Men or Wolverine, but in … [continued]
News Around the Net: Comic-Con Edition!
Batman, Game of Thrones, Marvel, News Around the Net, Superman, The Simpsons, X-Men
Lots of cool news coming out of Comic-Con this week!
Let's begin with the hilarious Game of Thrones "In Memoriam" video:
Look! It's Caesar and his Ape Council! Awesome.
The Simpsons is going to do a crossover episode with Family Guy? Awesome! Even more exciting? The Simpsons is also going to do a crossover with the cancelled-again Futurama!!! Oh boy I can't wait for that.
Speaking of crossovers, in news that I found VERY surprising, DC/Warner Brothers have announced that the follow-up to Man of Steel is going to be a Batman/Superman film. As much as I love all the allusions, in the announcement, to the seminal Superman-Batman grudge match in Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns (and I love the Frank Miller-inspired Batman/Superman logo that you'll see if you scroll down this article) I must confess to not be so excited that they are rushing into a crossover film. I felt that Man of Steel had a lot of flaws, but it was a terrific reintroduction of Superman. I'd love to see them get a little deeper into exploring this new incarnation of the character, before throwing him into a Batman crossover film. Plus, since it seems clear that Christian Bale will not be reprising the role, wouldn't it be weird to introduce a new Batman in this crossover film, without a stand-alone film of his own under his belt? The whole thing feels to me that they are rushing things in order to combat Marvel's success with The Avengers.
Still, if done right, a Batman/Superman film could sure be awesome. I must admit that despite my qualms, there is some geeky excitement there.
I feel similarly about Marvel's announcement that The Avengers 2 will be called Age of Ultron. The deadly, humanity-hating robot Ultron is a classic Avengers villain, and the thought of seeing him realized on film should be tremendously exciting. And it is, for sure. It's just that I am really thrown for a loop since after seeing Thanos at the end of The Avengers, and with the cosmic Guardians of the Galaxy set as one of Marvel's Phase 2 films coming before Avengers 2, it seemed like Marvel was setting the stage for a big cosmic story with Thanos as the main bad-guy. I thought that was such an awesome plan. I am very uncertain, now, as to how Ultron is going to play into all that. Is Thanos going to be held until The Avengers 3? That is a looong way away!
Adding to my uncertainty is the specificity of the subtitle of Age of Ultron. That is actually the title of a Marvel Comics crossover series that … [continued]
DC Comics, Game of Thrones, James Bond, M. Night Shyamalan, Marvel, News Around the Net, Planet of the Apes, Superman, The Hobbit, X-Men
OK, this is the greatest thing I have seen in a long time (BUT BEWARE SPOILERS IF YOU ARE NOT UP TO DATE WITH GAME OF THRONES!!!)
I love The Princess Bride!
I've completely lost faith in M. Night Shyalaman over the past decade, but that being said I still think Unbreakable is his best film, and I would so love for the long-rumored sequel to someday happen. The one flaw with Unbreakable, in my mind, is that the story feels incomplete — it feels like the first act of a larger story. So every time Mr. Shyamalan talks about a possible sequel, I am happy.
So this is interesting: in the months after the success of Skyfall, there was a lot of talk that Bond 24 and 25 (the next two Bond films) would be two connected films. That was denied by the Bond producers. But amidst the recent news that Skyfall Director will be returning for the next Bond film, the 24th, comes this rumor that Mr. Mendes is going to commit to helm the 25th Bond film as well! I love the idea of a two-part Bond film, that would be super-cool if that happens.
Zack Snyder (director of Man of Steel) and Bruce Timm (mastermind behind Batman: The Animated Series) are collaborating on a Superman short film in honor of Superman's 75th anniversary? Awesome!
I have Superman because of my huge anticipation for The Man of Steel (which I hope to see this weekend!!), so now's as good a time as any to read this terrific piece looking back at Superman II! That film was a HUGE part of my childhood…!!
There's been a lot of rumors flying in recent weeks about the inclusion of the character of Quicksilver in both Fox's upcoming X-Men movie, Days of Future Past, as well as the Disney-owned Marvel Studios' upcoming Avengers 2. It will be fascinating to see how this all shakes out!
(Speaking of Days of Future Past — Nixon! Love it!)
Anytime anyone is talking about Escape From the Planet of the Apes, I take notice!
And with that, my friends, I wish you all a great weekend. I'll be back next week with my thoughts on Man of Steel, season four of Arrested Development, and cartoons making fun of Star Trek Into Darkness. Hope to see you all back here soon!… [continued]
Batman, Battlestar Galactica, Bryan Singer, DC Animation, DC Comics, Marvel, News Around the Net, Spider-Man, The Hobbit, X-Men
In response to this summer's lousy Spider-Man reboot, The Amazing Spider-Man (click here for my review), comes this great article on 10 Remakes that Got it Right. There are some really intriguing films on this list that I have never seen, but have been immediately placed on my "to-watch" list…
It's old news by now, but I haven't yet waxed poetic on this site about how excited I am that Peter Jackson has expanded his adaptation of The Hobbit from two films to a trilogy! Very exciting. The hints of obscure bits of story from the Lord of the Rings appendices that Mr. Jackson is going to be filming in order to flesh out the story are even more exciting still. The battle of Dol Goldur?? Awesome!!
The new X-Men film is going to be Days of Future Past??? That's hugely exciting, but also very worrisome. Days of Future Past is one of the greatest X-Men stories (heck, one of the greatest comic book stories) of all time. The idea of that being adapted into a film is extraordinary!! Bravo to Bryan Singer and xx on taking on this iconic story. But the thought of a BAD version of Days of Future Past would be horrifying. I was burned by X3′s brutalization of the Dark Phoenix Saga (probably THE greatest X-Men story of all time), and that's a pain not easily forgotten… I am crossing my fingers and toes about this one…
Speaking of Bryan Singer, why the heck is he still developing a Battlestar Galactica movie? Do we really need another version of Galactica, after Ron Moore's fabulous TV series…? The only place to go is down…
I am excited to see DC's upcoming animated adaptation of Frank Miller's seminal "Last Batman Story" The Dark Knight Returns. (DKR was a strong source of material for Christopher Nolan's final Batman film, The Dark Knight Rises, as I noted in my review.) However, this first trailer leaves me underwhelmed in the extreme. This trailer should have been slow, spooky, and reverent, selling us on a world that had moved on without Batman. Instead, it seems to be selling a zippy animated adventure. I hope this doesn't reflect the tone of the finished product.
In happier news — Larry David, Dave Mandel, Alec Berg, Jeff Schaffer (key players on Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm) and Greg Mottola (Superbad, Adventureland, Paul) are working together on a new movie for HBO? Can't wait!!… [continued]
Josh Reviews X-Men: First Class!
James McAvoy, Jennifer Lawrence, Marvel, Michael Fassbender, Movie Reviews, X-Men
I was beginning to think I'd never get to see another great X-Men movie!
I'm a big, big fan of Bryan Singer's first two X-Men films. I think they're pretty much perfect, the first two steps in what seemed like an epic cinematic saga. When the final shot of X2 tantalized viewers with the promise of the Dark Phoenix saga (probably the single greatest X-Men storyline ever), I was overcome with gleeful anticipation. I think I'm still recovering from the disappointment at how badly the film series fumbled things from there. The studio rushed X-Men 3 into production with another director, as a big up-yours to Bryan Singer, who had been hired to direct Superman: Returns. X-Men 3 has a decent first 45 minutes or so but then things totally collapse, and the brutally awful handling of the Phoenix storyline was crushingly disappointing. And in the years since, the only new X-Men movie we've gotten is the abysmally terrible X-Men Origins: Wolverine (share the pain and read my review here).
When I heard that they were finally putting together a new X-Men film, and that it was a prequel, I was not pleased. I really hate prequels, as readers of this blog are probably aware. I think it's a lazy approach to story-telling, and I'd always rather see a story move FORWARD rather than circle back upon itself. That we've been so deluged with prequels these past few years makes me absolutely crazy. Why do I want to see the young versions of characters I love? I want to see the experienced versions of these characters, in their prime, kicking ass and going on new adventures. Why has that seemingly been so difficult for the masterminds behind the X-Men film franchise? Can no one in Hollywood think past a trilogy? X-Men 3 was flawed, but it still made a TON of moola. Hire some new writers and get to work on X-Men 4! Of all the franchises in the world, the X-Men seems like the easiest no-brainer in the bunch. There are SO MANY great characters and story-lines in the comics to choose from. Is Patrick Stewart getting too expensive? No problemo! The comics were constantly writing Professor X out of the stories for long periods of time. Let's see the films adapt some of the great X-Men stories from the eighties, in which Prof X was gone and Magneto tried to reform and take over the X-Men. That would be awesome! It just seems so simple to me — we should be getting brand new X-Men films every 2-3 years, like clockwork.
But, obviously, that hasn't happened. Just one god-awful Wolverine solo flick and a prequel. … [continued]
DC Comics, Guillermo del Toro, James Bond, Marvel, News Around the Net, Superman, X-Men
This is a pretty funny assemblage of 1980's movie references. Don't miss Topher Grace's dynamite Marty McFly impersonation that comes at around 2:30.
I was sad to read of the passing of famed composer John Barry. He's responsible for so many pieces of iconic James Bond related music, it's staggering. He wrote the scores for eleven Bond films, including Goldfinger and From Russia With Love.
In happier Bond news, is it possible that Javier Bardem will be the villain in the next Bond film? James Bond vs. Anton Chigurh? What an inspired idea!
In even-happier-than-that Bond news, comes this casting possibility. I really hope these casting rumors pan out! I'm very excited with the way Bond 23 looks to be shaping up so far…
Click here to read The New Yorker's fantastic profile of Guillermo del Toro. It's a lengthy piece, stuffed full of delicious tidbits of information on the many projects that he has in the hopper (and some — like The Hobbit with him as director — that sadly will never be). I really hope that his adaptation of At the Mountains of Madness actually happens.
I'm a dreamer, and I dare to dream that someday we'll get another awesome X-Men movie. (I adored X-Men and X2, but was disappointed by X3 and thought X-Men Origins: Wolverine was one of the worst movies I've ever seen.) I'm starting to think it just might be happening when I read articles like this about The Wolverine, the upcoming film directed by Darren Aronofsky (The Wrestler, Black Swan), written by Christopher McQuarrie (The Usual Suspects), and based upon Chris Claremont & Frank Miller's famous, amazing Wolverine mini-series from 1982, set in Japan. My hopes are VERY high for this one, gentlemen. Please don't let me down!
The moment I knew was coming has arrived: Brandon Routh is officially not playing Superman in Zack Snyder's upcoming film. Readers of this site know that I am a fierce defender of Superman Returns, and in particular I thought Mr. Routh was phenomenal as Clark Kent/Superman. I totally understand that Mr. Snyder wants to set his film apart from Bryan Singer's film, but I'm still really disappointed that we're not going to get a whole series of films with Mr. Routh in the lead. It's a big disappointment.
And, I must add, this rumor that Jessica Biel is up for the role of Lois Lane has me VERY worried. Urgh, that's a terrible idea. But then I read that that Jessica Biel rumor is just that — a rumor. OK, whew, I thought, bullet dodged. But then I read … [continued]
Aaron Sorkin, Peter Jackson, Planet of the Apes, Predator, Star Wars, The Lord of the Rings, X-Men
So is Peter Jackson going to direct The Hobbit? Or will it be his protege Neill Bolmkamp, who directed District 9? Who knows — I just hope this mess with MGM gets sorted out soon. I'm still getting over my enormous disappointment that MGM's financial situation resulted in Guillermo del Toro's departure from The Hobbit films. But boy would it be great to see PJ take the helm once again…
Great new trailer is up for The Social Network, the new film about facebook directed by David Fincher and scripted by Aaron Sorkin.
So, we finally got out first glimpse at The Green Hornet and… I'm still not quite sure what to think. This film is either going to be awesome or a total catastrophe…
This is a cool poster.
CHUD's list of the Worst CGI in Film History continues, and it's well worth your time.
Will we ever get another decent X-Men film? I loved X-Men and X2, but X3 was a crushing disappointment and the less spoken of the abominable X-Men Origins: Wolverine, the better. I hate prequels, as a rule, so when word came out last year that the next X-film would be a prequel entitled X-Men: First Class, I thought that was a big mis-step. So what now gives me hope? Director Matthew Vaughn (Layer Cake, Stardust, Kick Ass) and stars James McAvoy (Children of Dune, Atonement, Wanter) as Professor X and Michael Fassbender (Inglourious Basterds) as Magneto. An ember of hope is fanned…
Are we about to finally get another decent Predator film? The first Predator is awesome — one on my favorite movies ever. But the second one (set in the future with Danny Glover as the lead) is weak, and the less spoken of the two Alien Vs. Predator films the better. But Robert Rodriguez and Nimrod Antal's Predators is set for release in just a few short weeks, and damn if this new trailer isn't pretty awesome. An ember of hope is fanned…
It's hard for me to believe that a new Planet of the Apes film is really happening. And now I read that John Lithgow and Freida Pinto (Slumdog Millionaire) have joined the cast? Um, okay… An ember of hope is… well… we'll see…… [continued]
Not Quite the Best There is at What he Does — Josh Suffers Through X-Men Origins: Wolverine
Hugh Jackman, Marvel, Movie Reviews, X-Men
Hoo boy.
One of my first articles, when I started this blog, was about great franchises that have fallen on hard times. I was writing about my once-beloved Alien and Predator series, but we can all now safely add the X-Men films to that list. What in the world has happened to this series?? X-Men and X2 were so spectacular — but after X3 and now the rather verbosely titled X-Men Origins: Wolverine I am sad to report that the series is batting only two for four.
X-Men Origins: Wolverine is a Fantastic Four caliber catastrophe. Some talented actors appear on-screen, there's some exciting action, some familiar X-Men characters pop up (one in particular really surprised me), and we finally get to hear Wolverine say on-screen, "I'm the best there is at what I do. But what I do best isn't very nice." But the scant enjoyment I felt from those moments was short-lived. X-Men Origins: Wolverine is a rentlessly dour and joyless affair, one that consistently reveals itself to be a truly B-Grade effort. What do I mean by that? Allow me to elaborate:
The film is filled with plot-holes, but more than that, it doesn't hold together at all as any sort of coherent narrative. I respect the filmmakers' ambition in trying to capture a number of different periods in Wolverine's life, from his birth in the late 1800's, through his experiences in a variety of wars (captured really well, actually, in an exciting opening credits sequence), through his time with Silver Fox, his involvement in the Weapon X program, and beyond. But none of the bits and pieces hang together. Instead of merging together to form an expansive back-story, each jump in time left me with countless unanswered questions: Why would Logan, a Canadian, fight in so many of America's wars? Right from the first scene, he is established as a gentler soul than his mean brother Victor — so why would Logan hang around with Victor for so many years? If Stryker and the team were so upset when Wolverine left them, how and why did the whole group disband soon after? And why would Victor, of all people, be the one to remain in Stryker's service? I could go on.
The film makes a total hash of the X-Men comic continuity. There was a lot of precedent for this, of course, as the previous three X-Men films also mixed and matched characters and story-lines from different periods of the comics with great abandon. But there's a souless "everything and the kitchen sink" approach to this film as it ties a barrage of random Marvel Comics characters (Gambit! Deadpool! The Blob!) into Wolverine's origin — and … [continued]
Comic Book Reviews, Joss Whedon, X-Men
The various X-Men comic books have been a sales juggernaut for Marvel Comics for almost forty years now, and the success of the three X-Men films has certainly furthered the spread of this franchise. There have been a heck of a lot of talented writers and artists involved in the X-Men over that long stretch of time, but one man really deserves the lion's share of the credit: Chris Claremont, who wrote The Uncanny X-Men comic book from 1975-1991.
Over the course of that incredibly lengthy run, Clarement shaped the characters, the stories, and the world of the X-Men, so much of which is known and loved world-wide today.
I started reading Uncanny X-Men towards the late-middle of Claremont's run, in the mid/late 80's. I'd been reading comics for a few years (my enjoyment of Marvel's Transformers comic book series lead me to various super-hero titles such as the Fantastic Four and the Avengers), and people kept telling me "you can't be a comic fan and not be reading X-Men." I finally took the plunge, and I was immediately sucked into the series. Claremont was incredibly skilled at crafting interesting, really three-dimensional and human characters, and his stories were dense and sophisticated. (Claremont was the master of the "sub-plot," in which various story-lines would weave in and out of the comic, sometimes for YEARS, before finally dovetailing with the main story being told.)
After Claremont left the X-Men comic in 1991, I continued to follow the series for many years, but it was never able to recapture for me the greatness of the Claremont era. Various writers and artists would rotate through the book, and some entertaining stories were told… but after a while I finally began to get bored, and I ultimately stopped reading. Once or twice a year I'd pick up an issue or a mini-series, but nothing ever held my interest enough to warrant my reading the title again on a monthly basis.
Then, in 2001, the British writer-artist team of Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely took over one of the X-Men comics. (By this point, there were several!) I purchased their first issue, titled "E for Extinction," and was blown away. Suddenly, the characters were interesting again, and the world those characters inhabited seemed dangerous again. I was hooked, and with no small amount of disbelief I started reading an X-Men comic every month again.
Maybe I'll return to this topic at a later date to write a lengthier review of Morrison's run, but ultimately I was disappointed by what had begun so promisingly. From the beginning, Quitely wasn't able to keep up a regular schedule, and without his magnificent art the stories … [continued]
With Great Power…
Batman, DVD Reviews, Hellboy, Movie Reviews, Ron Perlman, Spider-Man, X-Men
I love comic books. And that means that I grew up with a great love of super-hero stories. These days its true that many of my favorite comic books have little to do with super-heroes (looking through my "to-read" pile I see titles like David Lapham's Young Liars, Stephen King's The Dark Tower adaptation, Jeff Smith's new boot RASL, Mike Mignola's BPRD and Abe Sapien, Ed Brubaker's Criminal, Brian Azzarello & Eduardo Risso's 100 Bullets, to name just a few.) But there is still something about a great super-hero yarn that really excites me. (For instance, I've been reading and throughly enjoying Ed Brubaker's run on Daredevil, Brian Michael Bendis' work on Avengers and Secret Invasion, and Joss Whedon's Astonishing X-Men.)
That love of a good super-hero tale extends to movies. While working on these new Iron Man cartoons, and thinking about the movies still ahead this summer (Hellboy II, The Dark Knight, and The Incredible Hulk), I've been thinking about what makes a great super-hero movie.
Here are my five favorite super-hero movies of all time:
5. Unbreakable — Back when I loved M. Night Shyamalan, he made this fantastic little tale about a man (Bruce Willis) who discovers that he cannot be injured. There are no costumes, no witticisms, none of the silly trappings that have come to be associated with super-heroes and super-hero movies. Just a compelling story with some terrific under-played acting from a great cast (Bruce Willis has never been better than he is here as the sad, empty man who discovers that he is different), and some really interesting scene composition, shot set-ups, and editing choices from director Shyamalan.
4. Hellboy — Adapted from a series of mini-series written and gorgeously illustrated by Mike Mignola, Hellboy follows the adventures of a paranormal investigator who is actually a demon from Hell himself. Who loves pancakes. The comic is a wonderfully bizarre, textured mix of fairy tales, folklore and some good old-fashioned monster-fighting action. The film, directed by Guillermo Del Toro (Pan's Labyrinth, and the man tapped to direct the upcoming two films based on The Hobbit) is a remarkable realization of Mignola's comic. The splendid, consistently under-rated Ron Perlman is brilliant as Hellboy, bringing enormous depth and warmth to the character despite all the red rubber makeup.
3. Spider-Man 2 — Like Hellboy, Spider-Man 2 is another film whose greatest strength is the way it is able to distill the essence of a beloved (albeit much more widely-known) comic book character into a compelling film all its own. Tobey Maguire was born to play the stiff, dorky Peter Parker who one day discovers that with great power comes great responsibility. … [continued]


text:
Ruthy Alon Ph.D
Yin – Yang
The Wave and Axis
Integration of Movement
Awakening Personal Compass
Optimal Functioning
About Movement Intelligence
About Ruthy
Reverse the Sandglass
The Feldenkrais Method
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Movement Intelligence
The Rationale Roots in Dr. Feldenkrais Approach to Somatic Learning
The Early life Model for Sensory Feedback based Autonomous Self-Improvement
Feldenkrais' key observation is that the natural development of movement skill during the early stages of life occur in a totally autonomous, self-directed context — in the primal, pre-verbal layers of the brain, without reliance upon any external guidance.
The infant's natural acquisition of movement is thus accomplished through a dialogue between an internal urge, or an intention to satisfy a particular need, and the sensory feedback that accompanies these trial-and-error explorations as it seeks to fulfill these needs.
The infant settles on a satisfactory coordination only after trying out random experiments of various configurations, comparing and evaluating them through sensation. In order for a particular pattern of coordination to become adopted — registered into his functional memory as a reliable routine for future use — the organism first needs to be convinced that this new pattern is feasible and answerers his urge. Such confirmation can only be gained after a specific pattern has been repeated many times, in different contexts, and feels both safe and comfortable. This qualitative criteria of safety and comfort is crucial factor in natural learning. It carries the insight that for a physical skills to be adopted to personal repertoire for spontaneous use you might not need to sacrifice your comfort with exaggerated effort, possibly to the point of causing pain. Nature is showing that the human baby succeeded in its first year to earn a his basic functions without this tall.
What Sets Feldenkrais Apart from other Fitness Methods?
This principle — of the organism trusting itself to discover optimal coordination on its own, through exploring multiple options that are sifted and selected beyond cognitive consciousness, in the sensory domain, for fulfillment of the motivating urge within safety and comfort — is what sets Feldenkrais' approach apart from other methods of developing physical fitness. This natural way differs from our culture's common approach to physical education, in which an authoritarian outside expert, presents the right model goal and people are excepted to imitate this final product to the best of their ability, sometimes ignoring their inner clues.
In contrast, Feldenkrais applies the infant's methodology of autonomous learning to mature adults, including those who suffer from a wide range of functional disturbances and limitations. Followers of his method are guided to notice the inner world details of coordination by pursuing numerous variations on a specific movement theme. The explorations are guided verbally, without any visual demonstration that might imply some desired outcome imitation. Permission is given to follow the suggestions at one's own pace, to use minimal effort, and to work within one's comfort zone by lying down on the ground — free of concern with gravity, balance, and any social considerations. Students thus find themselves under protected "greenhouse" conditions, as only under safe atmosphere they will likely be ready to try un-familiar patterns, The safety is needed in order to neutralize, for a while, their automatic dominance of habits and allow them to explore different new patterns of coordination, thus re-setting their self-judgment mechanism, which might have been shut down under layers of sealed habits.
The subconscious way to improve self-organization
At the end of these non-habitual explorations the discovery of an improved coordination often emerges spontaneously. This final performance — of a more desirable self-organization, sensed both subjectively and objectively — originates from trusting the core primal knowledge of the organism, listening to the subconscious compass, which knows how to navigate, with no words, every living creature's movement.
Beyond leading a student's body to spontaneously discover a better coordination for a given movement objective, the main point of this learning process is to sharpen one's innate judgment mechanism,
and get in touch with one's native resources, through which each creature knows unerringly, through internal sensation, how best to navigate its actions to his own advantage. This sensory-based process of evaluating differences in efficiency awakens in the individual his movement intelligence, and restores his trust in his innate, fundamental instinct for existence.
In contemporary culture it seems as if this determined, vital, assertive drive has faded away. Perhaps it has atrophied from lack of use, given the relative comfort afforded us by modern civilization, which spares us from moving our bodies unnecessarily, and enables survival even under very low degree of vitality. Perhaps this primal urge has been buried away under layers and layers of limited movement habits, which have become fixed in us with the tenacity of an addiction.
The Self-Correcting Organism
The artful upgrading of people's less than perfect movement routines is Feldenkrais' legacy. Due to the strength of habits, the challenge of improving adult coordination is no different from the challenge of weaning them from an addiction. Obviously, using discipline to overcome addiction bears poor results. Instead, Feldenkrais discovered he could improve an adult's movement quality by following in the footsteps of the growing baby's formulae for acquiring competence, which is based on attending to internal signals. By communicating with the subconscious, through the language of sensation, Feldenkrais found that he could successfully restore optimal function in a gentle, non-violent, and non-coercive manner that circumvented the addictive pull of habit. To his clients, the newly found mobility and sensation of spontaneous upright posture yielded a shift in self-perception that transformed them from feeling like helpless victims into filling them with hope and inspiration. And the most inspiring realization of all was that it all depend on themselves, and they have both the general principle and the ever creative roadmap of endless aspects for the healing exploration of options.
Improvements that emerge from the subconscious are spontaneous adjustments that often come as a surprise, even to the student himself.
The change that comes from within feels like it is cast on the entire body as a complete Gestalt, in which every part of the body is engaged in harmony with all the rest. This is a remarkable moment of making peace with standing upright, a full self acceptance.
It would have been impossible for our intentional, cognitive programming faculty to calculate and control the complex inter-relationships of so many factors coming together in this kind of harmony. It is only the pre-cultural resources of our organism that are capable of orchestrating the multi-layered components in harmonious coordination, as they did for eons of time.
Integration — The Key to Organic Re-organization
Guiding a mature adult to successfully modify his policy of movement management, and to spontaneously upgrade its quality, can be accomplished effortlessly by re-enacting nature's primal process of learning, as seen in the developing infant, and as modeled in the approach pioneered by Feldenkrais.
Feldenkrais borrowed from Nature the qualitative organizing principle most characteristic of all organic life: integration. From the perspective of integration, the living body coordinates its activity as a network of interrelationships among all its parts, in which each part both affects and is affected by all the others. According to the integrative approach, the ability to change — and restore function in a specific isolated area, especially a problematic one, relies upon a global re-adjustment that recruits harmonious support and cooperation from every other area of the body.
This might open the ability and readiness of all other parts of the algorithm to alter, even though they don't suffer. Just like in Family therapy, we have to heal the relationships not the problem, the software harmony and not the hardware muscle.
In tune with following the clues from nature, the configurations used for the Feldenkrais' guided explorations are based on evolutionary patterns of locomotion, ones that nature had relied upon for millennia. In distinct contrast to man-made, artificial and muscle oriented exercises, like extreme stretching or specific acrobatic positions, the functional configurations of the dynamic locomotion derived from nature, have proven their necessity, efficiency, and problem-solving in support of existence.
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A popular term for extraordinary intelligence which has no fixed meaning in education or psychology, where it is rarely used.
either of two spirits, one good and one evil, supposed to influence one's destiny.
in classical Roman times, an attendant spirit of a person or place.
in psychology, a person of extraordinary intellectual power.
Type: Term Pronunciation: jēn′yŭs, jēn′ē-ŭs Definitions: 1. Markedly superior intellectual or artistic abilities or exceptional creative power. 2. A person so endowed. 3. In psychology, someone who ranks in the top 1% of all people on a test of intelligence.


text:
import datetime
from django.db import models
from django.db.models import Q, QuerySet
from .base import OCDBase, LinkBase, OCDIDField, RelatedBase, IdentifierBase
from .division import Division
from .jurisdiction import Jurisdiction
from ... import common

# abstract models

class ContactDetailBase(RelatedBase):
    """
    A base class for ContactDetail models.
    """

    type = models.CharField(
        max_length=50,
        choices=common.CONTACT_TYPE_CHOICES,
        help_text="The type of Contact being defined.",
    )
    value = models.CharField(
        max_length=300,
        help_text="The content of the Contact information like a phone number or email address.",
    )
    note = models.CharField(
        max_length=300,
        blank=True,
        help_text="A short, optional note about the Contact value.",
    )
    label = models.CharField(
        max_length=300, blank=True, help_text="A title for the content of the Contact."
    )

    class Meta:
        abstract = True

    def __str__(self):
        return "{}: {}".format(self.get_type_display(), self.value)

class OtherNameBase(RelatedBase):
    """
    A base class for OtherName models.
    """

    name = models.CharField(
        max_length=500, db_index=True, help_text="An alternative name."
    )
    note = models.CharField(
        max_length=500,
        blank=True,
        help_text="A short, optional note about alternative name.",
    )
    start_date = models.CharField(
        max_length=10,
        blank=True,
        help_text="An optional start date for usage of the alternative name "
        "in YYYY[-MM[-DD]] string format.",
    )
    end_date = models.CharField(
        max_length=10,
        blank=True,
        help_text="An optional end date for usage of the alternative name in "
        "YYYY[-MM[-DD]] string format.",
    )

    class Meta:
        abstract = True

    def __str__(self):
        return "{} ({})".format(self.name, self.note)

# the actual models

class Organization(OCDBase):
    """
    A group of people, typically in a legislative or rule-making context.
    """

    id = OCDIDField(ocd_type="organization")
    name = models.CharField(max_length=300, help_text="The name of the Organization.")
    image = models.URLField(
        blank=True,
        max_length=2000,
        help_text="A URL leading to an image that identifies the Organization visually.",
    )
    parent = models.ForeignKey(
        "self",
        related_name="children",
        null=True,
        # parent can be deleted w/o affecting children
        on_delete=models.SET_NULL,
        help_text="A link to another Organization that serves as this Organization's parent.",
    )
    jurisdiction = models.ForeignKey(
        Jurisdiction,
        related_name="organizations",
        null=True,
        # deletion of a jurisdiction should be hard
        on_delete=models.PROTECT,
        help_text="A link to the Jurisdiction that contains this Organization.",
    )
    classification = models.CharField(
        max_length=100,
        blank=True,
        choices=common.ORGANIZATION_CLASSIFICATION_CHOICES,
        help_text="The type of Organization being defined.",
    )
    founding_date = models.CharField(
        max_length=10,
        blank=True,
        help_text="The founding date of the Organization in YYYY[-MM[-DD]] string format.",
    )
    dissolution_date = models.CharField(
        max_length=10,
        blank=True,
        help_text="The dissolution date of the Organization in YYYY[-MM[-DD]] string format.",
    )

    def __str__(self):
        return self.name

    # Access all "ancestor" organizations
    def get_parents(self):
        org = self
        while True:
            org = org.parent
            # Django accesses parents lazily, so have to check if one actually exists
            if org:
                yield org
            else:
                break

    def get_current_members(self):
        """ return all Person objects w/ current memberships to org """
        today = datetime.date.today().isoformat()

        return Person.objects.filter(
            Q(memberships__start_date="") | Q(memberships__start_date__lte=today),
            Q(memberships__end_date="") | Q(memberships__end_date__gte=today),
            memberships__organization_id=self.id,
        )

    class Meta:
        db_table = "opencivicdata_organization"
        index_together = [
            ["jurisdiction", "classification", "name"],
            ["classification", "name"],
        ]

class OrganizationIdentifier(IdentifierBase):
    """
    Upstream identifiers of an Organization.
    """

    organization = models.ForeignKey(
        Organization,
        related_name="identifiers",
        help_text="Reference to the Organization identified by this alternative identifier.",
        on_delete=models.CASCADE,
    )

    def __str__(self):
        tmpl = "%s identifies %s"
        return tmpl % (self.identifier, self.organization)

    class Meta:
        db_table = "opencivicdata_organizationidentifier"

class OrganizationName(OtherNameBase):
    """
    Alternate or former name for an Organization.
    """

    organization = models.ForeignKey(
        Organization,
        related_name="other_names",
        help_text="A link to the Organization with this alternative name.",
        on_delete=models.CASCADE,
    )

    class Meta:
        db_table = "opencivicdata_organizationname"

class OrganizationContactDetail(ContactDetailBase):
    """
    Contact information for an Organization.
    """

    organization = models.ForeignKey(
        Organization,
        related_name="contact_details",
        help_text="A link to the Organization connected to this contact.",
        on_delete=models.CASCADE,
    )

    class Meta:
        db_table = "opencivicdata_organizationcontactdetail"

class OrganizationLink(LinkBase):
    """
    URL for a document about an Organization.
    """

    organization = models.ForeignKey(
        Organization,
        related_name="links",
        help_text="A reference to the Organization connected to this link.",
        on_delete=models.CASCADE,
    )

    class Meta:
        db_table = "opencivicdata_organizationlink"

class OrganizationSource(LinkBase):
    """
    Source used in assembling an Organization.
    """

    organization = models.ForeignKey(
        Organization,
        related_name="sources",
        help_text="A link to the Organization connected to this source.",
        on_delete=models.CASCADE,
    )

    class Meta:
        db_table = "opencivicdata_organizationsource"

class Post(OCDBase):
    """
    A position in an organization that exists independently of the person holding it.
    """

    id = OCDIDField(ocd_type="post")
    label = models.CharField(max_length=300, help_text="A label describing the Post.")
    role = models.CharField(
        max_length=300,
        blank=True,
        help_text="The function that the holder of the post fulfills.",
    )
    organization = models.ForeignKey(
        Organization,
        related_name="posts",
        help_text="The Organization in which the post is held.",
        on_delete=models.CASCADE,
    )
    division = models.ForeignKey(
        Division,
        related_name="posts",
        null=True,
        blank=True,
        default=None,
        help_text="The Division where the post exists.",
        # if the division goes away the post is just jurisdiction-less
        on_delete=models.SET_NULL,
    )
    start_date = models.CharField(
        max_length=10,
        blank=True,
        help_text="An optional start date for the Post in YYYY[-MM[-DD]] string format.",
    )
    end_date = models.CharField(
        max_length=10,
        blank=True,
        help_text="An optional end date for the Post in YYYY[-MM[-DD]] string format.",
    )
    maximum_memberships = models.PositiveIntegerField(
        default=1, help_text="The maximum number of people who can hold this Post."
    )

    class Meta:
        db_table = "opencivicdata_post"
        index_together = [["organization", "label"]]

    def __str__(self):
        return "{} - {} - {}".format(self.role, self.label, self.organization)

class PostContactDetail(ContactDetailBase):
    """
    Contact information for whoever currently occupies a Post.
    """

    post = models.ForeignKey(
        Post,
        related_name="contact_details",
        help_text="A link to the Post connected to this contact.",
        on_delete=models.CASCADE,
    )

    class Meta:
        db_table = "opencivicdata_postcontactdetail"

class PostLink(LinkBase):
    """
    URL for a document about a Post.
    """

    post = models.ForeignKey(
        Post,
        related_name="links",
        on_delete=models.CASCADE,
        help_text="A reference to the Post connected to this link.",
    )

    class Meta:
        db_table = "opencivicdata_postlink"

class PersonQuerySet(QuerySet):
    def member_of(self, organization_name, current_only=True, post=None):
        filter_params = []

        if current_only:
            today = datetime.date.today().isoformat()

            filter_params = [
                Q(memberships__start_date="") | Q(memberships__start_date__lte=today),
                Q(memberships__end_date="") | Q(memberships__end_date__gte=today),
            ]
        if post:
            filter_params.append(Q(memberships__post__label=post))

        if organization_name.startswith("ocd-organization/"):
            qs = self.filter(
                *filter_params, memberships__organization_id=organization_name
            )
        else:
            qs = self.filter(
                *filter_params, memberships__organization__name=organization_name
            )
        return qs

class Person(OCDBase):
    """
    An individual that has served in a political office.
    """

    objects = PersonQuerySet.as_manager()

    id = OCDIDField(ocd_type="person")
    name = models.CharField(
        max_length=300, db_index=True, help_text="A Person's preferred full name."
    )
    sort_name = models.CharField(
        max_length=100,
        default="",
        blank=True,
        help_text="A version of a Person's full name rearranged for alphabetical sorting.",
    )
    family_name = models.CharField(
        max_length=100, blank=True, help_text="A Person's family name."
    )
    given_name = models.CharField(
        max_length=100, blank=True, help_text="A Person's given name."
    )
    image = models.URLField(
        blank=True,
        max_length=2000,
        help_text="A URL leading to an image that identifies the Person visually.",
    )
    gender = models.CharField(max_length=100, blank=True, help_text="A Person's gender")
    summary = models.CharField(
        max_length=500,
        blank=True,
        help_text="A short, one-line account of a Person's life.",
    )
    national_identity = models.CharField(
        max_length=300, blank=True, help_text="The nation a Person is identified with."
    )
    biography = models.TextField(
        blank=True, help_text="An extended account of a Person's life."
    )
    birth_date = models.CharField(
        max_length=10,
        blank=True,
        help_text="The date of a Person's birth in YYYY[-MM[-DD]] string format.",
    )
    death_date = models.CharField(
        max_length=10,
        blank=True,
        help_text="The date of a Person's death in YYYY[-MM[-DD]] string format.",
    )

    def __str__(self):
        return self.name

    def add_other_name(self, name, note=""):
        PersonName.objects.create(name=name, note=note, person_id=self.id)

    class Meta:
        db_table = "opencivicdata_person"
        verbose_name_plural = "people"

class PersonIdentifier(IdentifierBase):
    """
    Upstream identifier for a Person.
    """

    person = models.ForeignKey(
        Person,
        related_name="identifiers",
        on_delete=models.CASCADE,
        help_text="A link to the Person connected to this alternative identifier.",
    )

    class Meta:
        db_table = "opencivicdata_personidentifier"

class PersonName(OtherNameBase):
    """
    Alternate or former name of a Person.
    """

    person = models.ForeignKey(
        Person,
        related_name="other_names",
        on_delete=models.CASCADE,
        help_text="A link to the Person connected to this alternative name.",
    )

    class Meta:
        db_table = "opencivicdata_personname"

class PersonContactDetail(ContactDetailBase):
    """
    Contact information for a Person.
    """

    person = models.ForeignKey(
        Person,
        related_name="contact_details",
        on_delete=models.CASCADE,
        help_text="A link to the Person connected to this contact.",
    )

    class Meta:
        db_table = "opencivicdata_personcontactdetail"

class PersonLink(LinkBase):
    """
    URL for a document about a Person.
    """

    person = models.ForeignKey(
        Person,
        related_name="links",
        on_delete=models.CASCADE,
        help_text="A reference to the Person connected to this link.",
    )

    class Meta:
        db_table = "opencivicdata_personlink"

class PersonSource(LinkBase):
    """
    Source used in assembling a Person.
    """

    person = models.ForeignKey(
        Person,
        related_name="sources",
        on_delete=models.CASCADE,
        help_text="A link to the Person connected to this source.",
    )

    class Meta:
        db_table = "opencivicdata_personsource"

class Membership(OCDBase):
    """
    A relationship between a Person and an Organization, possibly including a Post.
    """

    id = OCDIDField(ocd_type="membership")
    organization = models.ForeignKey(
        Organization,
        related_name="memberships",
        # memberships will go away if the org does
        on_delete=models.CASCADE,
        help_text="A link to the Organization in which the Person is a member.",
    )
    person = models.ForeignKey(
        Person,
        related_name="memberships",
        null=True,
        # Membership will just unlink if the person goes away
        on_delete=models.SET_NULL,
        help_text="A link to the Person that is a member of the Organization.",
    )
    person_name = models.CharField(
        max_length=300,
        blank=True,
        default="",
        help_text="The name of the Person that is a member of the Organization.",
    )
    post = models.ForeignKey(
        Post,
        related_name="memberships",
        null=True,
        # Membership will just unlink if the post goes away
        on_delete=models.SET_NULL,
        help_text="	The Post held by the member in the Organization.",
    )
    on_behalf_of = models.ForeignKey(
        Organization,
        related_name="memberships_on_behalf_of",
        null=True,
        help_text="The Organization on whose behalf the Person is a member of the Organization.",
        # Membership will just unlink if the org goes away
        on_delete=models.SET_NULL,
    )
    label = models.CharField(
        max_length=300, blank=True, help_text="A label describing the membership."
    )
    role = models.CharField(
        max_length=300,
        blank=True,
        help_text="The role that the member fulfills in the Organization.",
    )
    start_date = models.CharField(
        max_length=10,
        blank=True,
        help_text="The date on which the relationship began in YYYY[-MM[-DD]] string format.",
    )
    end_date = models.CharField(
        max_length=10,
        blank=True,
        help_text="The date on which the relationship ended in YYYY[-MM[-DD]] string format.",
    )

    class Meta:
        db_table = "opencivicdata_membership"
        index_together = [["organization", "person", "label", "post"]]

    def __str__(self):
        return "{} in {} ({})".format(self.person, self.organization, self.role)

class MembershipContactDetail(ContactDetailBase):
    """
    Contact information for Person at an Organization.
    """

    membership = models.ForeignKey(
        Membership,
        related_name="contact_details",
        help_text="A link to the Membership connected to this contact.",
        on_delete=models.CASCADE,
    )

    class Meta:
        db_table = "opencivicdata_membershipcontactdetail"

class MembershipLink(LinkBase):
    """
    URL for a document about a Person's relationship to an Organization.
    """

    membership = models.ForeignKey(
        Membership,
        related_name="links",
        help_text="A reference to the Membership connected to this link.",
        on_delete=models.CASCADE,
    )

    class Meta:
        db_table = "opencivicdata_membershiplink"

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Mammals included Dorcas Gazelles, jackals and hares.
Rock Doves are in fact on Israel's red list due to mixing with feral pigeons. In remote parts of the deserts genuine-looking doves can be seen. I think I have never photod a Rock Dove before. Good looking birds to be honest.
Other birds seen were some Hill Sparrows in several sites (breeding invasion began), some singing Lesser Short-toed Larks, and a male Pallid Harrier.


Yep, you read that right. This is a 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO, and it's value is 45 MILLION DOLLARS.
I'm not that interested in cars myself. But when my son came home from a car show last weekend with this picture, I was intrigued. What in the world makes a car worth 45 million dollars? And why would you park it outside and let a bunch of strangers get close to it?
Let me set the stage. My nineteen year old is a car fanatic, with a love for Ferrari in particular. He is on a unique path to work for them someday - a story I will share here on the blog very soon. C and his friend heard about a Ferrari show taking place last Saturday, and rumors were swirling that the owner of this car was going to attend.
He obviously showed up with his Ferrari, and there it is. Parked in the street with hundreds of people taking pictures. I asked my son what makes this car so special. I mean, it's cute and all, but really?
Apparently, vintage Ferrari's from the 50's and 60's are among the most coveted cars in the classic car marketplace. There were only 39 of this model made, and it was designed as a road car built to race. Every one of them competed at some point. In 2013, a Ferrari just like this one sold for 52 million dollars.
I still don't get it. I can think of 45 million other things to do with that kind of money, but it sure made my son's weekend.
Nothing makes a car worth that, IMHO!
So I am wondering if they actually drive this car, or if it was brought to the car show wrapped in bubble wrap? I'm glad your son got to attend this show!
Nope, it arrived on a trailer, and left on a trailer. Which makes it even more ridiculous!
That's just crazy! Some people just have way too much money!
I guess so. My son says it's like owning a priceless piece of art - to each their own I guess.
I could buy so much stuff with $45m! I can't believe it!
Me too - I could buy hundreds of cars!
I simply cannon imagine spending $45mil on one car! Oh the things I would do with $45mil!!!
The owner must have so much money they don't know what to do with it!
That's the sad part - I don't think they actually drive it anywhere. More like a piece of artwork for them.
I really enjoyed reading this post about vehicle wraps, thank you for sharing. I rarely come across the article equally interesting and informative! I generally prefer RTS for van wraps kent and would recommend it to all.


text:
package ecs

//Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
//you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
//You may obtain a copy of the License at
//
//http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
//
//Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
//distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
//WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
//See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
//limitations under the License.
//
// Code generated by Alibaba Cloud SDK Code Generator.
// Changes may cause incorrect behavior and will be lost if the code is regenerated.

// NetworkInterfacePermission is a nested struct in ecs response
type NetworkInterfacePermission struct {
	Permission                   string `json:"Permission" xml:"Permission"`
	AccountId                    int    `json:"AccountId" xml:"AccountId"`
	NetworkInterfaceId           string `json:"NetworkInterfaceId" xml:"NetworkInterfaceId"`
	ServiceName                  string `json:"ServiceName" xml:"ServiceName"`
	NetworkInterfacePermissionId string `json:"NetworkInterfacePermissionId" xml:"NetworkInterfacePermissionId"`
	PermissionState              string `json:"PermissionState" xml:"PermissionState"`
}


text:
Passenger on United Airlines flight that overshot runway: 'It was a very unhappy airplane'
United Airlines flight slid off runway at Austin Straubel airport, but passengers had been through a lot before that early Friday morning incident.
Passenger on United Airlines flight that overshot runway: 'It was a very unhappy airplane' United Airlines flight slid off runway at Austin Straubel airport, but passengers had been through a lot before that early Friday morning incident. Check out this story on greenbaypressgazette.com: http://gbpg.net/2GHN4bP
Richard Ryman, USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin Published 2:20 p.m. CT Feb. 23, 2018 | Updated 3:24 p.m. CT Feb. 23, 2018
A United Airlines airplane sits about 250 feet off the end of a runway at Green Bay-Austin Straubel International Airport Friday. The plane, with 187 passengers and crew, slid off the runway early Friday morning. No one was injured.(Photo: Richard Ryman/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin)Buy Photo
ASHWAUBENON – Being on a United Airlines flight that slid off the runway at Green Bay-Austin Straubel International Airport early Friday morning was the culmination of a bad day for two Onalaska couples that fortunately wasn't worse.
No one was injured when the airplane was unable to stop before the end of the runway at 3:15 a.m. Friday because of apparent icy conditions. The plane, carrying 180 passengers and seven crew members, had been diverted from Minneapolis because of bad weather, Tom Miller, director of Austin Straubel International Airport, said in a statement.
The story started much earlier for Jim and Debbie Kroner and Dale and Clara Pasell, all of Onalaska. The couples were returning from a vacation in Belize, which they left at 9 a.m. Thursday.
It was raining hard when they left Belize and the flight to Houston was uneventful. Dale Pasell said they were even told they'd get to Minneapolis a half-hour early.
That was their last good news. Before they finished boarding in Houston, they were told the airplane had mechanical problems and they'd have to get on a different plane, which proved to be too small for the number of passengers.
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They boarded a third airplane, a Boeing 737-900, and took off for Minneapolis, where they were waved off because of poor runway conditions. The plane was low on fuel and went to Madison, where it refueled. It then headed back to Minneapolis, was waved off again, and then flew to Austin Straubel, where it stopped 250 feet past the end of the runway.
Dale Pasell said he was concerned, as it was apparent they wouldn't stop in time, because he didn't know what was at the end of the runway. Fortunately, it is open ground.
"It was evident on the runway we were going too fast," he said. "Fortunately, we are all okay."
Another passenger, Mike Henderson, told the KARE-TV in Minneapolis in a telephone interview that the runway was icy.
"You couldn't feel the brakes biting at all. And then all of a sudden bumpity-bump and we're now sitting off in the weeds at the end of the runway."
A United Airlines airplane sits about 250 feet off the end of a runway at Green Bay-Austin Straubel International Airport Friday. The plane, with 187 passengers and crew, slid off the runway early Friday morning. No one was injured. (Photo: Richard Ryman/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin)
After about 90 minutes, by which time they had been on the airplane long enough to fly to Europe, school buses carried passengers to the terminal.
"It was a very unhappy airplane," said Debbie Kroner, who was camped out with the others Friday at a table in the airport restaurant with that bone-weary, no-sleep look that is so recognizable to air travelers.
Throughout the ordeal, passengers behaved well and supported one another, she said.
"After spending eight hours with the same group of people, there was a lot of bonding," she said.
Two buses left the airport before 10 a.m. Friday carrying some passengers back to Minneapolis. The Kroners and Pasells opted to wait for a 1 p.m. flight provided by United, which does not have regular direct routes from Green Bay to Minneapolis.
The flight was originally scheduled to arrive in Minneapolis at 10:30 p.m. Thursday.
"By this time, we will have been up for about 32 hours so we plan to get a hotel room and drive back (to Onalaska) on Saturday," Jim Kroner wrote in an email to co-workers Friday morning, although he wasn't taking anything for granted. "But (you know) 'the best laid plans of mice and men.' We'll see what happens."
Mike Johnson of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel contributed to this report
Read or Share this story: http://gbpg.net/2GHN4bP
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Potawatomi Tower's fate awaits DOA response


Joan O'Meara Ranked Among Top Agents Nationwide!
NEW YORK, July 2013 – Four of Houlihan Lawrence's brokers have been named to the nationwide REAL Trends/The Wall Street Journal Top Thousand list. Calculated annually, the highly prestigious list features the top 1,000 sales agents in the United States. Houlihan Lawrence agents Nancy Kennedy, Susy Glasgall, Sheila Stoltz and Joan O'Meara made the list based on their 2012 sales volume, showcasing the deep talent pool at the family-owned firm. More than 50 of the family-owned firm's agents ranked among the top 100 salespeople locally based on 2012 sales volume reported to the Hudson Gateway Multiple Listing Service, despite competition from large corporately-held brokerages.
A Houlihan Lawrence standout, Nancy Kennedy was not only included in this year's Top Thousand list for sales volume, but she also ranked number 74th on the list for individual units sold. Nancy was the #1 Associate for the entire Westchester and Putnam County MLS in 2012 by units sold and dollar volume, and she has been named top agent company-wide seven different times. Boasting over 25 years of real estate experience, Susy Glasgall has consistently been one of the top performing agents for Houlihan Lawrence. Not only was she ranked on the Top Thousand list this year, but Susy was also #1 for single family homes sales by dollar volume in 2012 for all of Westchester County and has received this honor multiple times before. Additionally, Houlihan Lawrence has named Susy its overall top producer in Westchester on 10 separate occasions, and its top producer in Rye 20 different times. Sheila Stoltz is consistently recognized as a top realtor in both Bronxville and Westchester County. Her local expertise and data-driven market insights allow her to deliver the best service to her clients and maintain her top standing over the years. Joan O'Meara is an industry expert that has been specializing in the Rye and Harrison regions for over 16 years where she repeatedly ranks in the top 2% of the Westchester Board of Realtors. Joan strives to exceed each customer's expectations, and it's seen in her proven success and frequent top achievements.
REAL Trends is a communications and consulting company widely considered to be the leading source of analysis and information on the residential brokerage and housing industry. Their Top Thousand list, completed in conjunction with The Wall Street Journal, is a highly anticipated national ranking completed each year. Those on the list are recognized as the top .5% of over 963,000 licensed realtors nationwide.
Houlihan Lawrence is the largest area broker serving Westchester, Dutchess and Putnam counties, and the 17th largest independent realtor nationwide. Founded in 1888, the company has 25 offices and over 1000 agents. Houlihan Lawrence offers specialization in several key areas: Luxury Country Properties reaches beyond the local marketplace to attract discerning buyers from around the world; Houlihan Lawrence Project Marketing works exclusively with and for developers of single family and multi-family projects; Global Relocation partners closely with local Fortune 1000 companies to provide full-service relocation assistance; Commercial Real Estate Group provides a full spectrum of services to owners, purchasers and tenants of commercial land and property.
REAL Trends has been the trusted source of news, analysis and information on the residential brokerage industry since 1987. The privately-held publishing, consulting and communications company is based in Castle Rock, Colorado. Residential real estate leaders look to REAL Trends for timely and trusted information and analysis through its monthly newsletter, news updates, conferences and publications. In addition to creating research studies, REAL Trends is a leading provider of high-level business consulting services to the residential real estate industry. The firm provides a wide range of advisory services to international clientele as well as local, regional and national real estate organizations. Areas of expertise include operational analysis, valuations, merger and acquisition advisory services, consumer and business research and strategic planning. For more information, visit http://www.realtrends.com or call 303-741-1000.
Impressive cedar shingle and stone Colonial on level 1-acre in prestigious waterfront neighborhood in Rye, New York. Enjoy the serenity of the stunning widows walk and gracious water views of Long Island Sound. Extraordinary architectural design is evident in every room in this home most notably in the exquisite millwork and impressive detailing.
For more information on any of the above rental properties please feel free to contact me at jomeara@houlihanlawrence.com or at 914.329.5329.
To View the Full Report…Click Here.


Is Water The Most Valuable Resource After All?
The answer to this particular question is transparent and all around us: YES, IT IS! Every living being requires water to survive, which is why we should use it as efficiently as we could.
Since the human population is increasing, the water demand is rising too, but the ultimate thing to understand is that water is limited resources. The good thing is that it can renew also.
The water cycle brings the water on earth, and it falls all around us, and by doing that it filters the surfaces and preserves itself. However, we also have to do it. You have probably seen steel water tanks next to a construction site. They are using it to preserve water in case something happens.
According to scientific predictions, if we have in mind the current population growth rate, people will experience severe water problems by 2050. Since the usage of water is uneven, the overpopulated areas in the world are experiencing temporary water shortages due to extensive heat, and many regions are still in the problem when it comes to water.
US Environmental Protection Agency has stated that most household owners are using water for indoor activities such as toilet flushing, bathing, laundry, and dishwashing. At the same time, most appliances nowadays feature water saving programs and technology that will encourage preserving of water primarily for indoor use.
Apart from that, the outdoor use of water is still problematic, and household owners can easily make significant reductions in outdoor water usage if they decide to follow specific regulations. For instance, advanced technology in irrigation and control systems will reduce wastewater and improve overall efficiency.
Finally, you will be able to save water by installing specialized sprinkler heads that will deliver the water in precise amount, without wasting anything. You can also adjust irrigation timers by using computer control systems that will respond to daily changes in weather conditions.
By saving water you will not only reduce the amount of wastewater for environmental purposes, but you will also reduce the overall water costs, which is also vital for everyone.
Have in mind that water quality is also an issue, and one of the major problems that cause water issue are contaminants from hard surfaces such as parking lots and roads. However, due to the expansion of building development, the percentage of clean water dropped significantly.
For instance, turfgrass is the ideal place where you can biodegrade all sorts of contamination. At the same time, it tends to purify the water that is next to the root zone and that purification will reach underground aquifers.
If you want to learn how to recycle water with the efficiency, you should check here.
You should learn that soil microbes will tend to break down all unwanted chemicals and make it into harmless materials. This particular fibration system is effective that we can say that rainwater is much healthier for making law than using proper water from your tap.
Recycled water can be returned into stress and municipal water supplies, oceans or lakes. You can also use it to irrigate turfgrass so that you can supply it with more water during the dry season. It doesn't matter how much water you place on the turfgrass, because it will use everything both effectively and efficiently.
In case that you live tap water opened, you should have in mind that you will spend 12 liters of water per minute. Therefore, you should turn off the tap while you're washing up or brushing teeth. Have in mind that leaking tap can waste more than 120 liters of water on a daily basis.
Therefore, you have to make sure that everything functions correctly and that it doesn't feature leakage issues. If you drink tap water, you should fill bottles and keep it in the fridge but only for 24 hours.
You can drink and prepare meals with cold water from the fridge, which will increase the tastiness of the food you're making. Have in mind that bacteria tend to develop easier in the warm water, so by adding cold water to your dishes you will prevent this particular hassle from happening.


Spain's Sandra Jaime Sanchez "living a dream"
Spain's Damian Hugo Quintero: Gold-medal success at Baku 2015 "is amazing"
Karate world number one Alisa Theresa Buchinger "feels like an Olympian"
Esteban Perez Matas believes that karate has enhanced its chances of being included in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics thanks to success at the European Games in Baku.
Karate gold medallist Firdovsi Farzaliyev admits that he is "sad" that his sport is not included in the Olympics.
Baku European Games Operations Committee boss Simon Clegg believes that karate's inclusion in the Games will boost the sport's chances of Olympic presence in the future.
Turkish gold medalist Enes Erkan tells of his happiness having won the men's kumite +84kg final at the 2015 European Games in Baku.
Azerbaijan athlete Irina Zaretska tells of her pride after earning a gold model for the host nation in the women's kumite -68kg at the 2015 European Games in Baku.
Enes Erkan of Turkey wins the men's kumite +84kg gold-medal final to take his country's medal tally up to 10 at the European Games in Baku.
Aykhan Mamayev picks up host nation Azerbaijan's fourth karate gold of the European Games.
Irinia Zaretska is lost for words on the back of her gold-medal winning showing against favourite Alisa Theresa Buchinger in the women's kumite -68kg.
Croatia's Masa Martinovic beats Meltem Hocaoglu in the women's kumite +68kg final to earn her country's first gold of the 2015 European Games.
Spain's Sandra Jaime Sanchez admits that she "can't ask for more", having won gold in the women's kata at the inaugural European Games in Baku.
Azerbaijan's Irina Zaretska earns gold in the women's karate kumite -68kg category to move the host nation up to nine medals overall at the 2015 European Games.
Gold medal winner Damian Hugo Quintero praises the "amazing" atmosphere generated by Baku 2015 spectators inside the Crystal Hall arena.
Sandra Jaime Sanchez takes gold in the women's kata to add to compatriot Damian Hugo Quintero's success in the men's equivalent at Baku 2015.
Spain win their first gold medal of the inaugural European Games courtesy of Damian Hugo Quintero's exploits in the men's kata in Baku.
World number one Alisa Theresa Buchinger says that karate's inclusion in the European Games has allowed her to feel "like an Olympian".
Ireland's Karen Dolphin is out of the women's karate at the European Games in Baku.
Azerbaijan, Turkey and France win two gold medals each on the first day of the men's and women's karate kumite finals at the European Games in Baku.
Croatia's Jelena Kovacevic announces her retirement from karate following her silver medal win at the European Games in Baku.
France karate athlete Emily Thouy declares her pride at winning gold in the first European Games - a competition she deems extra important given her sport's Olympic omission.


text:
'Dad In A Box': Joshua Carr Returns From Afghanistan, Surprises Daughter On Her Birthday (VIDEO)
02/20/2014 01:55am EST | Updated February 20, 2014
A 3-year-old girl unwrapping her birthday present got the gift of a lifetime: Dad.
Joshua Carr had been deployed in Afghanistan, but managed to make it home just in time for little Bridget's birthday. So he decided to give himself as a gift.
"My mother wrapped the box and cut the bottom out, so when I arrived at my parents' house (where my daughter lived while I was deployed), my mom placed the box over me as I crouched down," he told Stars and Stripes. "The hardest part was holding the sides to keep the box from moving. I didn't want to shake the box too early and scare my daughter."
It was Carr's second deployment in Bridget's short lifetime, making her reaction doubly priceless.
The video was posted in September so out-of-town family could watch the reunion, but it's been going viral since President's Day.
Dogs Welcoming Soldiers Home
ParentsMilitaryFamily


text:
HomeNewsMissouri Legal Sports Betting Bills Advance Through The House
Missouri Legal Sports Betting Bills Advance Through The House
After receiving the green light of approval from the House Committee on Public Policy, a set of Missouri sports betting bills will soon stand before the whole chamber. The companion documents were passed by the committee on Wednesday in a 4-2 vote.
House Bills 2502 and 2556 aim to authorize the operation of both retail and mobile sports betting services. Licensing privileges would be extended to Missouri's 13 casinos.
In addition to casino betting, college and professional sports teams could obtain similar licenses to host on-premise wagering at their respective stadiums.
Details of the Bills
Each of Missouri's operators would be subject to a 10% tax on earned sports betting revenue, reflecting rates set in most midwestern sports betting states.
The measures are projected to generate up to $96 million in annual revenues, which could translate to approximately $10.8 million in funding for the state.
The prospective state gambling laws have backing from the state's professional sports teams and casinos. In January, the groups agreed to collaborate on a lobbying effort to accelerate the movement on sports betting in the state.
Prior legislation had previously been muddled in with the action on Video Lottery Terminals (VLT). The illegal gambling kiosks have taken over much of the Midwest and have become a priority for some lawmakers.
An active bill in Kentucky, for example, aims to legalize betting and crackdown on these machines in one fell swoop. So far, it has picked up a fair amount of traction and media coverage.
But for Missouri, such bulk gambling legislation has resulted in over four years of delays on domestic betting. And with those delays has come the forfeiture of several million in annual tax revenue.
Isolating Missouri sports betting from the issue of VLTs may be the key to legalizing domestic wagers in 2022. At least according to Cardinals President William DeWitt III:
"To have this legislation stand on its own, with VLTs debated on a separate track, we feel that we have the best chance of getting something done this year,"
Bettors Want Access
Missouri has now become an island of illegality, as each of its neighbors now offers some form of legal sports betting. During Super Bowl weekend, Missouri residents attempted to make bets using out-of-state technology 69,372 times.
That figure doesn't even account for the volume of Missourians who crossed state borders to set their wagers in legal sports betting states.
If the gambling measures receive approval in the House, they will cross over to the Senate for another vote before reaching the Governor's desk. Until then, Missourians are out of luck when it comes to betting in-state.
Offshore betting remains the most reliable option for players that want to gamble legally. Operators host their services on overseas platforms, regulated according to the laws in a given region.
Most of these services have been active for more than a decade, providing a safe space to wager when the only other option was a back alley bookie.
If you don't want to miss out on the March Madness action, offshore is your best bet.
Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Categories Legal Category Tags missouri
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